ABSTRACT
Microfinance is projected as a means for creating livelihoods and improving the income and living standards of people, particularly women. However, empirical studies from Sri Lanka indicate contrasting outcomes. The widespread practice of microfinance has contributed to furthering poverty, dispossession, displacement, and increased violence. This chapter captures the rural experiences of microfinance across years in Sri Lanka. It interrogates the tenets of the neoliberal development model, such as entrepreneurialism, empowerment, and post-crisis development vis-à-vis microfinance. The chapter foregrounds the relationship between microfinance, exploitation, and social reproduction as highly significant aspects of everyday work of the rural sector that require further attention.
